With the U.S. unemployment rate stuck at 8.3 percent, the National Federation of Independent Businesses said the job outlook remains cloudy at best.

NFIB economist William C. Dunkelberg said the organization's monthly survey showed a mixed bag on Main Street.

"For small employers, the net change in employment per firm (seasonally adjusted) was 0.11. This is certainly better than January’s net zero report and trending in the right direction, but still nothing to get overly excited about," Dunkelberg said.

“Seasonally adjusted, 12 percent of the owners added an average of 3.4 workers per firm over the past few months, and 14 percent reduced employment an average of 2.4 workers per firm. The remaining 74 percent of owners made no net change in employment," the survey stated.

The net percent of owners planning to create new jobs fell 1 point to 4 percent (seasonally adjusted) -- the third consecutive monthly decline.

Dunkelberg's data concluded that since July 2009, job creation plans have continued to lag all other recovery periods.